Renée Felice Smith (born January 16, 1985) is an American actress, director, and producer best known for her lead role as
Nell Jones
This is an overview of regular and recurring characters on the TV series ''NCIS: Los Angeles''.
Overview Main cast
Recurring cast
Main characters G. Callen
Agent Grisha "G." Callen (born: Nikolaev) (portrayed by Chris O'Donnell) ...
on the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
military action drama series '' NCIS: Los Angeles'' (2010–19). Smith made her first appearance during its
second
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
season and remained a series regular until its twelfth season, but returned for a guest appearance in the series finale. She is also known for her role as Missy in the psychological drama film '' Detachment'' (2011).
Long Island, New York
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, as well as the
Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...
at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, graduating with honors, double majoring in
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...
and minoring in history, Stonestreet Studios Conservatory and the
Lee Strasberg Institute
The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by the actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Str ...
.
While at NYU, she co-created the student dance troupe, Pulse Dance Project.
Career
Smith's first acting job was a national television commercial for
Danone
Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in 1919 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris, where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock mark ...
yogurt
Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...
in 1991 at age six.
Smith started off in theatre, having made her debut in Second Stage's ''Wildflower''. She was cast for a
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
on
The CW
The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
directed by
Amy Sherman-Palladino
Amy Sherman-Palladino (born January 17, 1966) is an American television writer, Television director, director, and producer. She is the creator of the comedy drama series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2000–2007), ''Bunheads'' (2012–2013), and ''The Marv ...
, tentatively titled ''Wyoming'', but only a pilot was produced since the project was not picked up by the network. The pilot movie is called ''The Wyoming Story''.
In 2010, Smith was cast to appear as
Nell Jones
This is an overview of regular and recurring characters on the TV series ''NCIS: Los Angeles''.
Overview Main cast
Recurring cast
Main characters G. Callen
Agent Grisha "G." Callen (born: Nikolaev) (portrayed by Chris O'Donnell) ...
recurring character
A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main f ...
, Smith's role was expanded to main cast after she impressed the producers with her acting. Following the show's twelfth season, she left the show. Smith reprised the role of Nell as a guest star in the series finale that aired in May 2023.
In 2011, Smith appeared as a
supporting character
A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo a ...
, Missy, in '' Detachment''. A year later she began co-creating with her partner Christopher Gabriel a children's book series based on her
French bulldog
The French Bulldog () is a French breed of companion dog or toy dog. It appeared in Paris in the mid-nineteenth century, apparently the result of cross-breeding of Toy Bulldogs imported from England and local Parisian ratters.
In April 2014, Smith played the role of Frankie in ''Code Academy'', a short
sci-fi
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
production in which young men and women are kept apart until a certain age and in April 2015, she starred in the short film ''Baby'', which she also produced and which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival.
Smith and her partner Christopher Gabriel co-directed their first feature film, ''The Relationtrip'' in 2017, which premiered at SXSW in March 2017. In March 2021, Smith and Gabriel released their first picture book entitled, "Hugo and the Impossible Thing".
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...